‘He’s a very impulsive person.’ Broward man gets Luigi Mangione tattoo on his leg
There are many ways to go viral on social media, but one Broward resident had a sure fire idea: a tattoo of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Not a temporary tattoo or a fake one to trick people online. Levi Jones, a 33-year-old business owner, pulled up to Sacred Eye Tattoos in Hollywood last week and sat for eight hours getting a photorealistic black-and-white portrait of Mangione on his leg. The tattoo, complete with the words “Deny. Defend. Depose.” written on Mangione’s face, is one of many tattoos, artworks, songs, T-shirts and memes inspired by Mangione to pop up online since he was named NYPD’s prime suspect in the shooting.
Just a few days after posting the video, Jones’ tattoo has gotten over 1 million views on Instagram. TikTok removed it from its platform as it was gaining traction, said Anthony Medina, the 27-year-old tattoo artist behind the piece.
“I definitely think it’s gonna get a little bit more viral, probably like five to 10 million views, hopefully,” Jones told the Herald. “But that was the plan.”
It’s all part of fiery online discourse over the shooting and the wave of public support for Mangione as many people expressed frustration over the healthcare insurance industry and its practice of denying legitimate claims. Prosecutors accused Mangione of shooting Thompson in Manhattan on Dec. 4 and fleeing to Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald’s days later. To some, Mangione has become a folk hero, while law enforcement and elected officials—from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to President-elect Donald Trump—have condemned those who valorize the alleged killer.
Ironically, neither Medina nor Jones have a particularly strong opinion on Mangione or Thompson’s death.
“Well, I don’t support murder, that’s for sure. I understand the frustration. I love the kind of vigilante aspect behind it. I’m in no means supportive of assassinating CEOs because you disagree with them or whatever immoral compass they have,” Jones said. “But, I’m kind of neutral on it. I don’t really know enough about it to even say if I’m with or against him.”
Medina had a similar response: “I don’t have an opinion on what happened. I haven’t done research into it to even form an opinion whether it was justified or not. Killing someone in general is never justified, but I’m sure he had his reasons behind it.”
So how did the permanent portrait come to be?
“He’s a very impulsive person,” Medina said.
Jones and Medina were already in talks about getting a different tattoo. Out of the blue, Medina said Jones texted him that he wanted to get a portrait of Mangione. Medina wasn’t buying it.
“I said, ‘No shot you’re actually serious about this,’” Medina said. “Two days later, it actually happened.”
In the past, Medina said, the two tried their hand at creating a viral moment with a fake Instagram video of Jones getting a suggestive face tattoo.
“He was trying to go viral with that, but it didn’t go as well as this one apparently,” the tattoo artist said.
“I was expecting us to have a lot more views by now just because it’s so controversial, but that was the intent behind it,” Jones said. “I wanted something that was going to be kind of intense and extreme. People would see it, shake their head like, ‘What the hell are these guys doing?’”
In person, Jones said he’s only gotten positive reactions from people. While shopping at Total Wine on Friday, Jones said the cashier noticed the tattoo and gushed about how she had seen it online.
On Instagram though, the comment section is more heated. Some like the tattoo, many do not.
Comments range from “this is nuts but awesome work my boy like always” to “WHY” to “Celebrating a death that resulted in no change what so ever.” One Instagram user joked: “Imagine you got an infection from that tattoo and you went to the doctor and then your claim got denied.”
Medina gets a kick out of people online who assume the artist and client are politically liberal, like one commenter that wrote, “I can tell by the shape of the leg this person is a lib” with laughing emojis.
“I think it’s hilarious because we’re both Republicans, and he’s a full Trump supporter,” Medina said.
Both Jones and Medina said they understand why some may find the tattoo offensive, but Medina noted that people have been getting tattoos of violent and controversial figures for years. Clients have asked Medina, who specializes in realistic, black-and-white portraits, for tattoos of mobsters, drug cartel leaders and Miami’s infamous “Cocaine Cowboys.”
“Idolizing people that do bad things is not new,” Medina said. “I think because [the situation] is so recent, the tattoo is a little out there, but it’s definitely not the first time that something like this has gone around. I think I was just the best to do it.”
Regardless of how people feel about it—or whether Mangione is found to be innocent or guilty—Jones said the tattoo makes for a great story and he doesn’t regret getting it.
As someone who used to work in the medical field, Jones added that there is one positive thing to come out of social media’s Mangione mania: people are seriously talking about the healthcare insurance industry.
“I know firsthand how corrupt it is, how people care more about money than patients. At the end of the day, people are paychecks,” Jones said. “I do like the fact that people are kind of waking up and seeing this because before this, no one would have cared.”
